Last Updated on June 21, 2024 by Suzy McCullough
Last summer we enjoyed two days at the Parc Asterix Theme Park located near Paris in France. We lived in France for 14 years and I am ashamed to say that we never visited Parc Asterix. It is a great family-friendly theme park and I certainly now regret only visiting until recently. Hopefully, it won’t be long until we return.
Asterix is a French comic book series about a village of Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world. With the aid of a magic potion, they fight the Roman Republic which is living in the time of Julius Caesar.
Myself and my son are unfamiliar with the characters and the stories but that honestly did not matter. The rides and theming at the park are excellent. They also have some pretty unique rides and if you like water rides then this is the park for you.
*Our stay and theme park tickets were hosted by Parc Asterix
We are a little bit scared of big upside-down rides so there were three we didn’t go on. Two of their thrill rides go upside down, Oz Iris and Goudrix. We debated going on their big wooden coaster, Tonnerre 2 Zeus but bottled it at the last minute. Plus there is a new thrill ride that was just being built when we visited.
Even if you don’t go on Tonnerre 2 Zeus make sure you check out what Zeus is wearing. So if you’re a family who likes good, fun rides but without the major scare factor then this post is for you.
I will now take you through our top 10 rides at Parc Asterix for families. Some of the rides have height limits, some don’t. Some are for the braver of riders but none are too extreme. There are over 40 rides at the park so it was tough rounding it down to 12.
#1 Pegase Express
This ride doesn’t even make it onto the ‘thrill ride’ list on their website. But for us, this ride was exhilarating. We loved it. We went on it both days we were there and if we’d have had the time we would have gone on it again. It is a comfortable ride as you are held in with just a lap restraint.
You are thrust at great speed around a twisting and dipping rollercoaster track. None of the drops are too severe but the best bit is certainly when the ride goes backwards for a bit. My 9-year-old loved this as much as I did.
Height restrictions – 1 metre minimum
#2 La Trace du Hourra
We regretted not going on this ride on both days. We left it too late to find out that we really loved this ride. It’s becoming quite clear in life that we love bobsleigh-type rides and La Trace du Hourra (Trail of Hurray) was no exception.
There is no fixed track so you are truly riding a bobsleigh and there are parts of the ride where you travel up to 60km. There are no steep drops, just lots of fast fun and lots of turns.
Height restrictions – Minimum: 120 cm Min. unaccompanied: 130 cm
#3 Discobelix
I was more of a fan of Discobelix than my son. I am still not too sure why he didn’t want to go on this again as I thought it was a great exhilarating ride. It doesn’t make your tummy lurch as much as a pirate ship (not at all for me) and it’s great fun being in a forward-facing seating/almost standing position while you are spun around. It literally feels like you are being spun around on a giant discus.
Height restrictions – 120cm minimum
#4 Le Grand Splatch
I have never left a ride as wet as when we went on Le Grand Splatch. There’s one thing you will get if you go on most of Parc Asterix’s water rides and that is WET! We went on the ride on a scorching hot day and we came off as wet as if we’d showered with our clothes on.
It was cooler the day after and the ride didn’t seem to be spurting as much water at people. It was verging on hysterical funny how wet we were all getting. There is a big drop at the end that gets you pretty wet but there are fountains dotted around, especially for when you are least expecting them.
Height restrictions – 1 metre minimum
#5 Le Vol d’Icare
Le Vol d’Icare is another of the park’s family-friendly coasters. You sit in 1-2s with one person in front of the other. It bashes you about a bit but we loved the quick speeds of this coaster which made it a little bit more daring than some other family-friendly rides in the park. We went on it more than once.
Height restrictions – 1-metre minimum
#6 Epidemais Croisiere
This leisurely boat ride is a great way to familiarise yourselves with the Asterix characters. It’s a perfect opportunity to take time out from the hectic pace of a theme park and the theming is excellent with moving characters, fun scenes and sounds.
Height restrictions – None
#7 Nationale 7
The Nationale 7 is a slow car ride on a track. Unlike a lot of similar rides we’ve been on you do actually have to steer yourselves slightly or else you bang repeatedly into the middle track. This made the ride more fun for our 9 year old who is about grown out of slow rides now. There’s lots of fun theming along the way, just watch out you don’t ‘drive too fast’ or the Gendarmerie will tell you off.
Height restrictions – 0.5 m accompanied / 1.2 m unaccompanied
#8 Romus et Rapidus
This is another of Parc Asterix’s wet rides. Your circular boat will take you on wild water rapids and you will more than likely get pretty wet. My son sat in the middle of two people and barely got dripped on! This ride is great fun and be careful if you laugh too much if someone gets wet, the same fate is more than likely waiting for you.
Height restrictions – 1 m accompanied / 1.4 m unaccompanied
#9 Les Espions
This ride is really popular with families. It’s great for views of the park as it travels around a few metres off the ground. It’s a relatively slow ride but we both loved it.
Height restrictions – 0.9 m accompanied / 1.3 m unaccompanied
#10 Les Chaises Volantes
I’m still shocked my son went on this as he’s been nervous about similar rides in the past. It is certainly bordering on one of the more extreme swing rides we’ve seen. It’s quite an exhilarating ride. Oddly it seemed to spin wilder when we went on it with fewer people than when we went on it when it was full. It doesn’t make your tummy flutter but it’s certainly a fast ride.
Height restrictions – 1.2 m minimum
#11 Menhir Express
Menhir Express is another of Parc Asterix’s wet rides. Even standing next to it can get you pretty wet. This is a pretty aggressive log flume ride, you will get bashed about and it has a steep 13-metre drop.
Height restrictions – 1 m minimum
#11 L’Hydre de Lerne
We both felt this ride was a little understated. The queue was never long for it and when we went on first thing in the morning the ride seemed to last twice as long because there was a very small queue of people waiting. You are spun about, quite wildly at times, and instead of being flat on the ground the ride changes heights on a regular basis.
Height restrictions – 1 m accompanied / 1.3 m unaccompanied
As mentioned above there are over 40 rides at Parc Asterix so there is certainly at least a long day’s worth to be had at the park. We would certainly recommend two days as then you will have time for some shows, the evening fireworks and perhaps a character meal. Here are a few more photos of family-friendly rides within Parc Asterix.
Top tip – if you go on L’Oxygenarium go on it early on in the day. By the end of the day, our boat was full of water and our shoes got absolutely drenched. Had we been on it and ended up with dry shoes the ride may have made it to our top 10!
They often have special offers on their website sometimes these can include their Fastpass access, Filotomatix. We had Filotomatix on one of our days at the park and it made a huge difference to our day. Filotomatix allows you to fast-track 10 of their rides and attractions.
You can also purchase fast-track tickets for singular rides. We walked virtually straight on every ride we used Filotomatix for. There was only one ride that was booked out when we wanted to go on but it was available later on in the day.
It’s really simple to use and works with the Parc Asterix app which I can also highly recommend as it shows you queue times in real-time and it was great for us finding places to eat or the nearest toilets. On busier days it also includes fast passes to some of their shows.
Unlimited Filotomatix includes Tonnerre 2 Zeus, Pegase Express, OrIris, Menhir Express, Goudurix, Trace du Hourra, Le Grand Splatch, Oxygenarium, Attention Menhir and Romus et Rapidus.
Please check out our Vlog of Parc Asterix
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